From Parapat, the roads were curvy all the way and it was circulating the Lake Toba at all times. I could always see the lake on my left and it was a great experience to witness the expanse on this magnanimous lake. The journey was not too bad because the driver opted to use the not so common road which had almost no traffic and it definitely gave a better view of the area.

All along the way, you could witness the locals and their daily chores. Most of these locals fully utilize the land surrounding their houses where by they plant paddy for personal consumption, cocoa, coffee, a little bit of tea leaves, pepper, vegetables and many more. It was so interesting to witness the enterprising spirit in them. Typically it was a back to basics experience where one had to cultivate everything you needed and exchange it on a barter system with others.

The journey itself,at times, we were ascending and at times we descending the range of mountains. Overall, we were invariably going up the beginning of Karo Highlands. At 9.30 am, we came to this small stop right at the peak of this range of mountains where there was a small hotel which was a very famous tourist spot.

The actual distance of this hotel from Parapat is 49 kilometers but the journey definitely did not seem like 49 kilometers, in fact, it felt like 490 kilometers. However, once we got off the car, we were all glad that we had stopped here. It is secluded, away from any kind of 'city' interference, the air crisp, clean and cool.

The view was beautiful and the temperature somewhere around 14 Celsius. This hotel is famous for two things, firstly 'Bandrek' which is ginger tea and secondly for its fried bananas. Well, as it is customary with all visiting tourists to try those two items which were much highly spoken about here, we just followed suit. The good thing being we were early and for at least 40 minutes, we had the place fully to ourselves. Shortly thereafter, a few busses arrived here and then the place seemed very busy.

These were the same group from the hotel in Parapat which we had stayed, whom we had stumbled upon during breakfast this morning. Upon arrival, some of them ran to the toilet and started vomiting. Pity them, they may have not been prepared for such roads.

As for us, initially, we sat all alone in the hotel coffee house having our 'Bandrek' and Fried Bananas until the room was swarmed by the other groups. Of course, dining here was out of our own pocket and it did not really cost much, somewhere around USD 4 for all 4 of us. The drink itself, was very thick and condensed. The taste of fresh ground ginger was very pungent and it subdued the taste of the tea. The fried bananas on the other hand was just normal. We get the same in Malaysia, everywhere along the streets. Initially, I thought that it would be similar to the one which I had tried in Batam Island, Indonesia whereby the bananas were coated with cottage cheese and deep fried. Hmmm I really missed that.

With that drink, we went out enjoyed the cool weather, took some photographs, and continued our journey.We resumed journey at 10.20 am. The driver did inform us that from this point onwards, we would not be able to view the Lake Toba anymore until we reach the next destination which is the source of water supply to the lake.